Big Baldwin news good for the area

One of the goals of higher education, obviously, is to prepare students for the future. But Friday, Mary Baldwin College announced plans that could help nurture a bright tomorrow for not only degree-seekers but also the entire region.

An as-yet-unnamed donor is giving the college a $15 million gift that kicks off plans to start three health sciences graduate programs slated to eventually add 300 students and 50 faculty and staff jobs in the Valley.

The college expects an investment of $18 million to $23 million for the project to create the three-year, coeducational programs for the degrees of doctor of physical therapy, occupational therapy doctor and master of physician assistant studies.

Demand for practitioners in these fields is growing, Mary Baldwin President Pamela Fox noted, so Friday’s announcement would seem welcome news for would-be students.

But it’s also good for the area as a whole.

The 50 new jobs should pay well. Annual payroll for all of them is expected to exceed $4.5 million by the 2019-20 school year.

And because the new programs won’t be located on Mary Baldwin’s current campus, 45,000 square feet of space will either need to be renovated or constructed somewhere else, which could make for a quick shot in the arm for the building industry, and a long-term jewel for Waynesboro, Staunton or Augusta County (the college has looked at sites in each locality).

Furthermore, the county and cities could reap additional economic benefits just from the spending an additional 300 students could do here.

Selection of a site and a dean for the health sciences program could come early next year, but the first classes wouldn’t enroll until 2014. And, of course, the state Council of Higher Education will have to approve the degree programs and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools grant accreditation.

So this venture will take some time to develop. But perhaps that’s fitting. Most students don’t finish all of their degree studies in one year, and education, counting lessons in the classroom and out, is really a lifetime pursuit. Mary Baldwin is just in the early chapters here, but the rest of the story sure sounds promising.